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GUNTUR: Maoists disrupted the SSC examinations on Friday when they attacked a home guard at an examination centre in Prakasam district here. The 100-odd students appearing for the exam fled the scene, but the extremists told them that they would not harm them and that they should write their exam.

The students were later given extra time by the authorities to finish their exam after the Maoists left the scene. The condition of the home guard who was shot at is said to be critical. According to information reaching here, at least three armed naxals entered the examination hall at Enuguladinnepadu, a remote village in Peddaraveedu mandal, around 11.30 am. They reportedly enquired from the watchman the whereabouts of the armed police. On seeing them, home guard G Raju tried to run away.

Raju escaped the first bullet, ran into a classroom and bolted it from inside. But the Maoists reportedly chased him and after breaking open the door, shot at the home guard on his chest from close range. Raju reportedly received two bullets.

Meanwhile, the terrified students ran away from the examination hall leaving behind their answer sheets. On noticing this, the Maoists reportedly appealed to the students to complete their exam and that they would not be harm them. The three Maoists then fled the scene.

District education officer Anjaneya Sastry discussed the incident with the local officials and directed them to give the students extra time to finish their exam. He said they would seek special permission of the SSC board to allow the students who left the examination in the middle because of the naxal attack to reappear for the exam.

Meanwhile, home guard Raju, who was rushed to the Markapuram government hospital and then to the Government General Hospital (GGH) at Guntur, is said to be battling for his life. India Times

Founder of the landmark Naxalbari Movement, Kanu Sanyal was born in 1929, at Kurseong in Darjeeling. His father, the late Annada Govinda Sanyal, was a court clerk and posted at Kurseong at the time of his death. The youngest but one among five brothers and a sister, Mr Sanyal went to Kurseong ME School (renamed Pushparani Roy Memorial High School) and became a matriculate in 1946. He did not complete the intermediate course in science at the Jalpaiguri College.

In 1949, Mr Sanyal got recruited at the Kalimpong court as a revenue clerk, only to continue in the service for six months until his transfer to the Siliguri court. He was arrested on the charge of waving a black flag at the then chief minister of Bengal, the late Bidhan Chandra Roy, in Siliguri. The agitation was in protest against the Centre’s ban on the undivided Communist Party of India in 1948.

At the Jalpaiguri Jail, where he was lodged during the brief imprisonment in 1949, Mr Sanyal met his future comrade, the then CPI district secretariat member, the late Charu Majumdar. Immediately after his release, Mr Sanyal joined the CPI, and became a whole-time member the following year. In 1964, when the CPI split on the issue of the Sino-Indian conflict, he sided with the new faction, the CPI-M.

A revolutionary at heart, Mr Sanyal could not concur with the “revisionist” stance of the CPI-M and soon stood out as a prominent activist of the party’s “radical faction”. In 1967, it was Mr Sanyal, who practically led the famous peasants’ uprising at Naxalbari village in West Bengal, leading to the birth of “Naxalism” ~ which till date is the most prominent form of armed Communist struggle in India.

Mao Zedong had largely influenced Mr Sanyal’s political philosophy. In September 1967, he went to China via Kathmandu and met the Chinese Communist leader to brief him on the developments at Naxalbari. In the 59 years of his life as a revolutionary Communist, Mr Sanyal has spent 14 years behind bars. With an ever-deteriorating health, he now leads the CPI-ML as it general secretary. In an interview with BAPPADITYA PAUL, he speaks about the Naxalbari Movement’s relevance in the contest of farmers’ struggles. Excerpts:

Q: As per popular perception, the late Charu Majumdar was instrumental in initiating the Naxalbari Movement and you assisted him as a trusted comrade. How far is this true?

This is a wrong perception. Charu Majumdar was never directly attached to the Naxalbari Movement. When the Naxalbari uprising took place, Charuda was bedridden at his Siliguri home, with a severe heart ailment. I must refer to the difference of opinion we had over how to bring about a Communist revolution by “radical Communists”.Charuda and his followers believed a revolution can be materialised by raising small groups of armed Communists and killing the individual “class” enemies. He also rubbished the idea of trade union practices. But a majority within the “radical Communists”, including myself, was opposed to such views.

While we, too, believed an armed struggle was inevitable for waging a revolution, we wanted to materialise it by involving the entire working class, especially the peasantry. We never subscribed to the idea of targeting individual “class” enemies and instead, were in favour of marching forward by forceful possession of farmlands owned by zamindars and big landlords.

When the differences with Charuda grew deeper, without any sign of either group budging on its stand, a way had to be worked out. It was agreed that Charuda would experiment with his ideas in the Chathat area (on the outskirts of Siliguri), while we would go ahead with ours, at Naxalbari. The ideas that proved successful would be adopted as an undisputed strategy of the “radical Communists”.

We began work in earnest at Naxalbari and the peasant uprising became a reality in 1967. But Charuda failed to ignite any such movement at Chathat and was summarily proved wrong.

Q: But outside Naxalbari, it was Majumdar’s “individual terrorism” line that was by and large adhered to. Those who spread the Naxalbari Movement elsewhere in the state, took the same to be the true spirit of Naxalbari?

That’s true. It happened primarily because of two reasons. First, as I was enmeshed in the struggle at Naxalbari and underground, I was detached from the outer world. Second, despite his ways being proved wrong, Charuda did not shun his strategy of “individual terrorism” and was always on the lookout to press it into action.

When the news of an armed peasant uprising at Naxalbari spread, “radical Communists” from across the state and from other parts of the country started showing their eagerness to join the fray. As Charuda was based in Siliguri then and was accessible, they looked to him for guidance. Charuda never missed the opportunity to preach his line of “individual terrorism”, labelling it as the spirit of the Naxalbari Movement.

The Press helped spread Charuda’s strategies, by referring to his comments in news coverage published on the Naxalbari uprising at the time. It was also because the Press could hardly access anyone else.

Q: Are you suggesting that in reality, Majumdar hardly played any role in the Naxalbari Movement?

Not exactly. Rather, what I am saying is, his role was limited to providing the philosophical base for the Naxalbari uprising, to a certain extent. But I would reiterate, Charuda was never directly involved in the Naxalbari Movement, nor was he aware of the day-to-day developments taking place in the field of struggle.

Q: Then why is it so that Naxalism, as perceived and practised in several parts of India now, seem to be adhering to the “individual terrorism” strategy, which Majumdar spoke of?

So far as perception is concerned, I think, I have already answered that question. With regard to the preference for “individual terrorism”, I would say, the “romanticism” of an armed revolution is luring “radical Communists” away. Particularly, with arms in hand, youths tend to believe they can bring about a revolution by using bullets alone. But the reality is, they simply can’t. Without a solid mass base, all efforts will be futile.

Q: What is the future of Maoist or Naxalite insurgency, active in many parts of India?

They will vanish with time, unless they strengthen their mass base immediately. I have been to an Andhra Pradesh village where Maoists claim dominance. I was astonished that even with arms in hand, the Maoists could hardly generate confidence among the peasantry to cultivate their own lands.

The peasantry there prefers approaching the police camp, to save themselves both from the Maoists and the forces of the landlords.

Q: Coming to West Bengal, what is your view on the latest industry-agriculture conflict? How do you take the ongoing anti-farmland acquisition movement at Singur and Nandigram? Do you find any similarity with the Naxalbari Movement?

See, there is hardly anyone who doesn’t want industrialisation in Bengal. But the question is for whose benefit it is. The industrialisation policy has been adopted and implemented by the Left Front government solely to benefit the imperialists and so, we oppose it. We say, set up need-based industries, keeping in mind the resources of a particular area and drive it for the general wellbeing of the common man. But the government is ruthlessly adamant on setting up industries by trampling farmlands.

The chief minister is harping on industrialisation and believes that everyone, barring himself, is wrong. But my question is, if Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wants to rejuvenate the industrial scenario, why doesn’t he first reopen the nearly 56,000 closed industrial units in the state? Why is there no effort to save the tea gardens in the Dooars and the labourers from starvation?

Singur and Nandigram have unmasked the cruel facets of the CPI-M, which fancies itself to be a party of the underprivileged. The movement that has generated out of Singur and Nandigram, if explored properly, can bring about a sea change in West Bengal. So far as the form is concerned, I find a great deal of similarity between Nandigram and the Naxalbari Movement. The ongoing fight in Nandigram, in particular, has the potential to excel the Naxalbari Movement. The only thing needed is a strong, selfless, political leadership to sustain it.

Q: Why single out Nandigram, when the same fight is on at Singur?

Mamata Banerjee has ruined the movement in Singur. By embarking on a hunger-strike, she spoilt the ignition of the Singur farmers.

I am sure the farmers of Singur will never get back their lands and Miss Banerjee is solely responsible for this. Just take a look at the happenings in Singur, as long as the farmers were battling it out themselves, the state government could not erect a fence on the acquired land.But soon after Miss Banerjee hijacked the movement and started her fast, the focus shifted to Esplanade and fencing work went on in Singur unabated. Whereas in Nandigram, farmers and locals relied on their own strength and even on the face of a persistent joint offensive by the police and CPI-M goons, they have so far managed to resist the imperialist invasion.

Q: But Miss Banerjee is the one considered capable of throwing out the Left Front? In fact, the Jamait-ul-Ulema-e-Hind leader, Mr Siddiqulla Choudhury, is talking of a grand alliance with the Trinamul and others, to fight the CPI-M?

See, capturing power is one thing and fighting the imperialists is another. For the moment, even if a grand alliance were to pull down the Left Front government, would it make any difference to the poor, the framers? Rather, the alliance would continue in the wake of what the CPI-M-led government is doing now, albeit with a different set of propaganda. I say this because like the CPI-M, the Trinamul, the Jamait and the rest lack the political will to work for the common people. If I am wrong, then let them first make a public declaration what radical changes they would initiate for the benefit of the farmers, if elected to power.

Q: In this context, how do you rate the role of the Left Front allies?

I don’t find their role satisfactory either. If parties like the CPI, RSP and the Forward Bloc are really opposed to the CPI-M’s ruthless industrialisation agenda, why don’t they step out of the Front? I advised some of their leaders to come out of the government, at least that would have created pressure on the CPI-M. But despite continuous humiliation at the hands of the CPI-M, they seem only too eager to continue sharing power.

Q: If we were to leave out the Trinamul, the Jamait and the Left allies, who then would lead the movement forward?

United Naxalites alone can guide the movement on the right path. I urge all Naxalite factions to form a common platform and take the anti-farmland acquisition movement to every corner of the state. Forget about the elections, just make a collective effort to intensify and sustain the struggle generated out of Singur and Nandigram. The Statesman

KalingaTimes Correspondent Malkangiri (Orissa): A Malkangiri court on Thursday ordered the release of five persons, including two women, who were arrested by the local police as `naxalites’ in September 2004.

Additional District and Sessions Judge of Malkangiri Sib Kumar Sahu discharged the five and ordered their release from

judicial custody due to lack of evidence against them.

Balram Majhi, Adu Malik and Madhi Rama were arrested along with the two women Debe Madkami and Debe Kabasi from the Malkangiri bus stand when they reached there after attending a rally in Bhubaneswar, the Capital city of Orissa.

Bhubaneswar, March 29 (IANS) The Orissa government has decided to drop the plan to provide special economic zone (SEZ) status to Kalinganagar, where several tribals protesting land acquisition were killed in police firing in January 2006. The state had received 17 proposals from various industrial houses for setting up SEZs in the state and the Centre had approved 13 of them.

“We have decided to drop one of them,” state Industry Minister Biswabhusan Harichandan told the state assembly Wednesday.”We have dropped an SEZ spread over 250 acres for metallurgy-based engineering and downstream industries at Kalinganagar for the time being,” Harichandan said.

The area forms a part of the Kalinganagar industrial complex in Jajpur district, around 120 km from here, which is billed as one of the biggest steel clusters of the country, an official of the state industry department told IANS. Jindal Stainless Steel Ltd (JSSL), which is setting up a huge integrated stainless steel plant in the region, had sought this SEZ status, said Jajpur District Collector Arabinda Padhi. Several companies like the Jindals and the Tatas had proposed to set up projects at the Kalinganagar complex.

The area became a “fear zone” after 13 tribals were killed and several injured in police firing Jan 2, 2006, when they gathered to protest the construction of a boundary wall of a Tata Steel plant. The industry department official declined to reveal the cause behind the dropping of the SEZ at Kalinganagar. An industry analyst, however, said that the stiff opposition to industrial projects in the area, and the recent violence in Singur and Nandigram in neighbouring West Bengal, may have prompted the government to drop the plan for the time being to avoid further trouble. Fresh News

Following is a news report on the loss of SFI in Jadavpur University AFSU(Arts Faculty Student’s Union) elections published in a leading kolkata newspaper. Forum for Arts Students (FAS) has swept the students’ union elections of the Jadavpur University arts faculty, traditionally a bastion of the Students Federation of India ( SFI )

FAS won three seats, while All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (Aidso) bagged the remaining seat. The elections were held on Tuesday. Counting of votes began at 11 am on Wednesday. The results were declared at 4 pm. The new vice-chairperson of the union Mahadyuti Adhikary won by a margin of 428 votes. General secretary Sourish won by 454 votes.

The assistant general secretary (day), Souro, and assistant general secretary (night) won by 401 votes and 52 votes, respectively. More than 1,800 students of the day section cast their vote. From the night section, about 180 students voted. The students voted for the posts of the day or night assistant general secretary, vice-chairperson and general secretary. In addition, the students also voted for their class representatives.

FAS, which is not affiliated to any political party, was formed in the aftermath of police intervention to break a hunger strike by the university students in June 2005 to protest the expulsion of three students. The SFI, the students’ wing of the CPM, controlled the students’ union for the past 11 years. Last year, FAS had wrested the vice-chairperson’s seat from the SFI.

The Nandigram issue was a major campaign plank against the party this year. “We will work on student-related issues without interference from any outside body,” said vice-chairperson Adhikary on Wednesday. “For instance, we have been mobilising support for a movement demanding better placements.” “Even a few years back, there was a feeling that the SFI could not be beaten without political backing. Last year’s results showed it could be achieved. This year’s results reflect a change in the mindset of the students,” added Adhikary.

SFI leaders said the verdict was “not unexpected”, but the margin of defeat came as a surprise. The expected margin of defeat was about 200 votes, but FAS won by more than double the figure.

Singur and Nandigram have forced renewed debate on some of the most burning questions of our time. Shoma Chaudhury travels to the hotspots to trace the roots of unrest and its lessons. Photographs by Shibani Chaudhury

The frontline: A women’s rally in Nandigram protesting against false FIRs and arrests

The first thing you experience when you enter Singur is shock. There are reasons why many critical tensions of our time have come brimming forth in this small agrarian community. When you are there, you understand why. Singur has been in the news for eight months, but nothing in the media has prepared you for the beauty or prosperity of the place. This is not a destitute patch of barren land from which people should want to be evicted for some monetary compensation. Singur is emerald country. Even an urban cynic, unmoved by pastoral idylls, can see in an instant that this is no poor man’s burden.

Land here is wealth. Singur is merely 45 kilometres from Kolkata, runs flush along the Durgapur highway, and lies between the Damodar, Hooghly and Kana rivers. Almost every villager’s house here is pucca, a secure shelter of cement and polished red stone. The fields are lush with crop — rice, jute, potato, and a myriad vegetables. And every 500 yards there is a pond swimming with ducks. Beauty never plays a role in the reckonings of macroeconomics. That could be a mistake. Human beings respond to beauty. They defend the things they love. The colour green has meaning in Singur. It lives. It has a weight and texture and smell that is easy to forget in a city. It spells generations of rootedness in land. It spells a self-sufficient way of life that people are willing to fight and die for.

Singur first slipped into the news in May last year. Soon after the Left Front government was sworn into power for the seventh time in a row in West Bengal, the CM, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya announced that Tata Motors was going to set up a car factory in Singur. Bengal has been suffering a stagnant economy for decades. This was to be the proud flagship of a new, aggressively industrialising Bengal. In popular middle-class imagination, the Tata name usually equals progress and growth. But trouble began almost immediately. Rallies, demonstrations, petitions, and then as the government persisted in acquiring the land, escalating tension and violence. September 25 and December 2, 2006, are folkloric dates in Singur. Scores of villagers are still smarting at the memory of the police action, lathi charge, tear gas, rubber bullets and arrests. For us, in our safe enclaves, these words have lost meaning with overuse. Unless one faces the might of the State oneself, one cannot approximate the pain of wood thudding on skin, the searing burn of tear gas. One cannot approximate the fear and anger ordinary people feel on the ground. On September 25, about 7,000 workers led by the Krishi Jami Rakha Committee — a conglomeration of parties, activists, and workers’ groups — had gathered at the Block Development Office to protest anomalies in the disbursal of compensation. In the police action that followed, Rajkumar Bhool, the 24-year-old son of a landless couple, was so badly beaten he collapsed by a pond and died. Several people were injured and 72 activists, including 27 women and a two- and-a-half-year-old girl, were arrested, several under Section 307 of the IPC, that is “attempt to murder.”

This incident increased the groundswell of anger. In response, the government clamped Section 144 of the Cr PC on the Singur region. On December 2, flanked by police, as the government began to fence off the acquired land, thousands of people gathered to stop the fencing. They were lathi-charged by the police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF). Women complained of verbal and physical abuse. Sixty villagers were arrested, 18 among them women. All were charged with IPC, Section 307. On December 18, 18-year-old Tapasi Malik’s body was found smouldering in the fields. Since then, Singur has continued to boil, with the government asserting that the Tata Motors small car factory would come up there at any cost.

The colour green has meaning in Singur. It lives. It spells generations of rootedness in land

One might wonder why one should be concerned with local trouble over a small car factory project in a faraway place. In fact, most people in urban India reading about Singur in small news snippets say, “But the farmers are being paid adequate compensation, why don’t they move?” Or as an Indian friend from America put it, even more dismissively, “Oh Singur — that Mamata Banerjee drama!” He could’ve been speaking for almost all of India’s middle-class.

Sitting in Delhi and Bombay and Bangalore, it is difficult to imagine what’s going on in these places. But Singur, and much more powerfully, Nandigram, the other seething faultline in Bengal, are not just about “adequate compensation” and competitive party politics. They are white hot samples — symptoms — of what’s happening in every corner of India. Raigad, Kalinganagar, Dadri, Kalahandi, Kakinada, Aurangabad, Bijapur, Chandrapore, Haripur, Bachera, Chowringa, Tirupati, Mand. The underlying stories everywhere are the same. Land takeover in the name of development or big industry. Summary eviction and displacement. Inadequate compensation. Lack of informed consent. Police action and state oppression. The breakdown of democratic process. And the arrogant sense that unless you have a high, urban standard of living and speak English, you are not a legitimate Indian.

By raising the temperature then, Singur and Nandigram have brought to head several of the most crucial questions of our time. Which path to development is India taking? One custom-built to fit its complex socio-political realities, or one imposed top down? How democratic is that path? Who will bear the “pain of growth”? What will shining India do with simmering India? And most importantly, if our governments do not course correct, how will simmering India express itself? It is undoubtedly true that sections of India have seen massive growth in the last five years. We, in the urban centres, who have benefited from that economic buoyancy, we who are coasting on massive salaries and a giddy new buying power, might find it difficult to see this as lopsided growth, but the most hawkish reformer would find it hard to deny that India’s galloping gdp is being forged on an under-layer of deep resentment.

And lava always finds its volcanic mouth. Visit the first house in Singur and the stories start to flow. Srikant Koley, 31, a swarthy, muscular man, used to own five bighas of land in Gopalnagar. This has been acquired for the Tata project and now falls within the fenced-off area. From being a self-sufficient farmer, he has become a daily-wage labourer. Yet he refuses compensation. Leaning scornfully on his cycle, pointing to the rich vegetable patch around him, he says, “We hear the Tatas have spent Rs 1,50,000 crore to acquire Corus, and here it is using the government to forcibly take our land away on subsidised rates? Are they such big beggars? Our land is our wealth, it is our life’s security. I’ll gift them my land then, but I will not take money for it.” “If I sell out, what will happen to the people who work on my field,” asks 50-year-old, Pratap Ghosh, owner of three and a half acres of land, now fenced off. A giant granary towers behind him. “Who will watch out for the discontent and unrest this is going to create? We are a community, we help each other. We can’t all be absorbed by the Tata factory. If I sell, I’ll just be creating dacoits in my own house. Money is temporary, how long can it last? Land is perennial.” Tehelka

MARAIGUDEM: The raids by the CPI (Maoist) on a police station and adjacent Salwa Judum base camp, housing about 1,600 tribal families, at Maraigudem in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh from March 24 to 27 has caused considerable alarm.

The families were displaced in the wake of confrontation between the extremist group and the State-sponsored Salwa Judum campaign.

The raids were spearheaded by an assault group of 70 naxalites, accompanied by about 1,000 members of the party’s village level “sanghams.”

The naxalites, camping in nearby forests, launched attacks only after nightfall. They hurled petrol and soap bombs and resorted to heavy firing.

It was a nightmarish experience for the inmates of the tribal settlement, which lacks basic amenities. There is no power supply either at the camp or in the police station.

Dantewada Collector K.R. Pisda visited the camp on Tuesday and assured the inmates that all steps to protect their lives. They made a representation him, urging that the camp be shifted either to Gollapali or Konta, division headquarters. Mr. Pisda said their request would be looked into.

The first attack was launched in the early hours of March 24. The Salwa Judum activists responded quickly and retaliated with bows and arrows.

About 60 youths, designated as special police officers and armed with .303 rifles, thwarted the attack. The fierce fighting lasted for about three hours.

A Central Reserve Police Force unit camping in the village and some 30 personnel of the State civil and armed police joined the SPOs in beating back the Maoists. A CRPF officer said the naxalites suffered heavy casualties. Explosives, a .303 rifle and Rs. 27,000 were recovered.

The second night

Maoists laid siege to the village again the next night. There was sporadic firing all through the night, with the naxalites retreating to the forests at 5 a.m.

So was the case on the third and fourth day. No reinforcements could be sent to Maraigudem as the area lacked proper roads.

Some of the panic-stricken camp inmates have started migrating to safer places. The youth, shouldering the task of fortifying the camp, were engaged in the last few days in putting up wooden barricades to block the free passage of intruders. The Hindu

Today SFI, the student’s wing of CPM, a social fascist, terrorist party in west bengal province of India was decisively defeated in the election to the Arts Faculty student’s union(AFSU) in Jadavpur University in kolkata. They lost all the four portfolio seats to FAS(Forum for Arts Students) a newly formed organisation.

Jadavpur University is one of the most prominent and prestigious universities in India. Not only because of it’s academic excellence but also the history of glorious student’s struggle right from the 50’s and 60’s. It was the storm center of the naxalite movement of the 70’s.

However SFI, a criminal organisation dominated by lumpens and thugs have been holding the arts faculty union for the past 8 years by using different fair and unfair tactics. But the students have now made it quite clear that they will not tolerate this tactics of intimidation to continue naymore. They will not allow their beloved university and its honour be trampled by the pseudo-leftist,criminals.

This election mandate also reflects the growing disdain that is prevailing among the students and youth of west bengal about the bourgeois policy of the West Bengal government to grab the land of poor peasants and give it to the profit monger MNCs to satisfy their ugly hunger.

SFI had made this so-called pseudo-industrialisation an issue and has got a slap from the student community. The students of Jadavpur University have categorically rejected the anti-people economic policy of the CPM(Left front0 govt. and their politics of terrorism , mass murder and mass rape.

In his interview given recently Mr.Karma claimed that two of his brothers

have been killed since the start of “Salwa Judum”,that his convoy has been attacked n numbers of time,that his family living in their native village are alwaysin danger of naxal attack etc.

The Facts:- After the naxalites attacked Errabore Camp a fact finding team was sent from Delhi which also included Urmila Sing(tribal congress leader from Madhya Pradesh).To her surprise their team was recieved by one of the brother of Mr.Karma who was supposed to have been killed by naxalites few days back.She later found out that the person who was killed had a similar name as that of Karma’s brother.But karma didn’t waste any time in garnering sympathy in the name of his brothers death.

About his convoy being always a target of the Maoist,it is a popular belief among the locals of Bastar that even if there is a cracker sound coming from few kms from his convoy Mr.Karma claims that he has been attacked in front of the press and media.

He and his family never live in the village as claimed by Karma.The nearest Government Rest House is their permanent resting place everytime he goes to his native place and not their house in the village as claimed by him in the interview.

The truth is that the Tribals of Bastar feel cheated by him after “Salwa Judum”.Even the SPOs are also turning their heat against him after “Rani Bodli” incident in which 39 SPOs were killed.

The tribals now realise that Karma has divided their community by making them fight against each other. In a desperate measure Karma formed “Chattisgarh Adivasi Mahapanchayat” recently for the welfareof the Tribals but little does he realise that thousand of tribals have already been killed and displaced and their agriculture land lying unclaimed for the Tata’s and Essar’s to Acquire in Bastar just because he has been bought by the Multi National Companies and who in turn will sell this great Country to Imperialists like America???

Hyderabad : Home minister K. Jana Reddy on Tuesday said that the Andhra Pradesh police would thwart any attempts of Maoists to attack jails and free their comrades.The Special Intelligence Branch that deals with intelligence on Maoists had put out an alert that the extremists may resort to mass attacks in areas on the borders of Chhattisgarh and Orissa

Reacting to the report, Mr Reddy said, “Not only jails, Maoists can strike at any place. We will give a fitting reply.” Police had increased security at jails, particularly in Maoist-affected regions following mass attacks in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh last year. Mr Reddy told mediapersons after the passing out parade of jail warders, “We too have information that Maoists are discussing attacks. We are concentrating on security at the borders.”

He added, “We will be using intelligence alerts properly and there is no need to worry.” The State has 123 sub-jails of which three have been closed due to lack of security. There are nine district jails and seven central prisons. After the attack on Jehanabad jail in Bihar, the State government shifted most of the Maoist prisoners to high security

central prisons.

A senior police official on condition of anonymity said, “Sub-jails are most vulnerable, particularly those in border districts like Khammam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. But there are no Maoists in the sub-jails. In district jails, there are only Maoists facing trial.”

The Warangal central prison could be the most potential target as most Maoist leaders are lodged there, the official said. But “attacking central prisons is a difficult task. There is lot of difference between jails in Bihar and Chhattisgarh and our jails. We have more security. But we can’t rule out an attack,” the official said. The State police is studying the various jail attacks in Bihar, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

“On November 13, 2005, about 1,000 Maoists and their supporters attacked Jehanabad jail in Bihar and released a large number of Naxal prisoners. On March 24 last year, at least 400 persons attacked a sub-jail in R. Udayagiri in Orissa and freed 40 prisoners. On April 15 they attacked the Narayanpur sub-jail in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and exploded mines. We have learnt lessons from them. In Andhra Pradesh it will not be easy,” said a jail official.

“We are filling up vacant posts in the jails department. Jammers will be set up in jails to block mobile phone usage,” he said. “The government was examining the file regarding grant of remission to eligible prisoners,” he added. At least 253 warders passed out of their training on Tuesday. Director general of police M.A. Basith and prisons department Chief Jayachandra took part in the parade. Andra cafe